Man gets life for beating 3-year-old girl to death

<p>A Norcross man has been sentenced to life in prison for slapping his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter so hard she died.</p><p>A jury convicted Christopher Demetrius Davenport on Thursday on charges of felony murder, malice murder and first-degree cruelty to children.</p><p>Davenport, 27, struck Joycelyn Broadway twice in the head on Oct. 18, 2001, because she soiled her diaper, prosecutors said.</p><p>"I am sorry for everything," Davenport told the judge. "I have to live with this for the rest of my life."</p><p>During closing arguments, Davenport's attorney, Lyle Porter, asked the jury to convict him on a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. Porter said Davenport did strike the child, but did not mean to kill her.</p><p>The jury acquitted Davenport on two counts of cruelty to children stemming from alleged physical abuse to the girl's two brothers, who were 6 and 9 years old at the time.</p><p>Joycelyn's mother, Alice Richardson, was not present when the verdict was read in court. She testified earlier this week that she no longer has custody of her two sons, but has remarried and has a 5-month-old baby.</p><p>Richardson pleaded guilty in January 2004 to three counts of cruelty to children and was sentenced to 10 years probation. Authorities said she was negligent for letting Davenport live with her three children even though she knew he had a history of violent behavior.</p>